Jorge Lorenzo is not the last to notice that the 2022 MotoGP season is approaching. And for good reason: the latter will play its preliminaries in less than two weeks on the side of Malaysia for tests in Sepang which will give an idea of the forces present. All predictions promise a dream year for Ducati and Pecco Bagnaia. The five-time World Champion follows the trend regarding the manufacturer. But on the drivers' side, he has another opinion which, if true, would be a bolt from the blue in the Grand Prix landscape...
And for good reason, since never has a rider from a satellite team been World Champion in the major motorcycle speed category. But for Jorge Lorenzo, this possibility does indeed exist in 2022. Thus, if the retired Por Fuera does not go against the forecasts that the factory Ducati has never found itself in such a strong position that Casey Stoner finally has a successor as MotoGP World Champion with a Desmosedici, he warns that the crowned one might not wear a red suit.
But then, who is the Majorcan thinking of? He responds on Moto sprint : it is George Martin. And he explains why: “ I think he is as explosive as Márquez and Quartararo, if not more explosive. He showed that even in the first year, on the tracks he loved, he could win and he did. He just needs experience to be competitive on all tracks like Bagnaia. Pecco is very solid, very complete. The negative point is that he still makes a few mistakes, falls when he is in the lead, but in terms of explosiveness and pure speed, Martin has something more than Bagnaia ».
And these qualities explosiveness and pure speed » are precisely the main ingredients of success in today's MotoGP, which is not without posing certain problems for riders who knew the race before, made of strategy shaped by experience. A change that has not escaped Andrea Dovizioso, Among others.
Jorge Lorenzo also says a word about Marc Marquez
As a reminder, George Martin is the 2021 rookie in the category. He was one of the biggest surprises of the last season. After already taking pole position at the second Doha Grand Prix on April 4 and finishing 2nd in the race, he won the Styrian Grand Prix on April 6 in Spielberg. Meanwhile, he broke eight bones in FP1 at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Three operations were necessary and the Pramac Ducati factory rider missed no less than four Grands Prix. In summary, the one who celebrates his 24 on January 29 has four pole positions, one victory and finished eleventh overall.
That being said, it is clear that the Ducati will not be alone on the track and Jorge Lorenzo don't forget the names of Marc Marquez et Fabio Quartararo. On the eight-time world champion, however, he poses a big question mark: “ without the injuries, Marc would have been the strongest, both physically and technically, but he was also the one who took the most risks. Beating a rider who is physically stronger than you, and who is also technically superior, and who risks even more, is really difficult, but risking more than others, especially in MotoGP, has consequences and Marc has paid the price in recent years ».
Jorge Lorenzo finished : " now it will be necessary to understand what his real conditions will be after the two terrible years he has spent and, above all, if he has lost anything in terms of absolute speed ". Waiting for, Marc Marquez spares no effort to honor with its presence the next Sepang tests where we are impatient to evaluate the new Honda. What if she was the big surprise of 2022?
